Gas shielded metal arc welding method



June 22, 1954 2,681,970

K H. KOOPMAN GAS SHIELDED METAL ARC WELDING METHOD Filed Feb. 19, 1951 Filler Rod Reel M g Weldin Wing current? 10' Consumable g 34 Source --18 wi Inerr -M0naromic Gas 1 Filler Rod Z3 INVENTOR KENNETH H. KOOPMAN ATTORNEY l and which feed-the wire to to a nozzle i5.

Patented June 22, 1954 GAS SHIELDEDMETAL ARC WELDING METHOD Kenneth H. 'Koopman, Fanwood, N.:J.,- assignor to Union Carbide and Carbon Corporatioma corporation of New York Application February 19, 1951, Serial No. 211,653

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a" gas shielded metal arc welding method in which an arc is struck between the end of a moving wire electrode and a workpiecaboth connected to a source of welding current, to consume the electrode and transfer metal therefrom through the arc stream to form on .the workpiece a Weld puddle, and a stream containing essentially inert gas is passed along the moving electrode to shield the arc stream and weld puddle.

Objects of the present invention are to increase the metal deposition rate for a given electrical power input, to decrease the weld penetration into the base metal, to decrease the quantity of inert gas employed per pound of metal deposited, and

to decrease or eliminate weld spatter and undercutting.

According to the present invention, these objects are accomplished by feeding additional metal from a separate source into the gas shielded puddle to increase the weld deposition rate of the resultant welding operation above that of the metal are stream. The additional metal is preferably in the form of a filler rod, which is an auxiliary or external rod, generally of the same metal composition as the. wire electrode, and continuously but separately'fed into the inert gas shielded weld puddle at a substantially constant rate, without substantially increasing the amount of welding current or the flow of inert gas.

The addition of the, cold filler rod materially cools the metal are stream and the weld puddle, and is believed to interfere with the mechanical force of the metal are stream to reduce its penetration into'the base metal :or workpiece. vaporization occurs in the 'metal are stream, which reduces or eliminates weld spatter. The molten weld metal fills the base metal crater more completely. Undercutting is reduced or eliminated, which is of particular advantage in welding of ferritic and pearlitic steels.

In the drawing, the single figure is a diagram of apparatus for carrying out the process according to the present invention. a i

-As shown in the drawing, the consumable elec trode wire in is supplied by a reel l2 from which it'is unwound by nip rollers I l driven by a motor A source of welding current 13 has one terminal I!) preferably positive connected to a contactor engaging the moving wire it), and the other terminal 2! connected at 22 to the workpiece or base metal 23. A stream containing essentially inert monatomic gas such as argon or helium is supplied to the nozzle I6 by a conduit 24.

LESS

An auxiliary or supplemental filler rod 3'0 is supplied by a reel 32 from which it is unwound by nip rollers 34 driven by a motor 35 and which feed the filler rod to a guide 36, preferably rigidly secured to the nozzle 16, by a strut 31. The filler rod-30 is preferably insulated from the electrode wire 10.

In'operation, the flow of inert gas in theconduit 24 is turned on to flow out of the nozzle it.

Then the sourceof welding current is is turned on to energize the contact 26 and the work 23. Then the motor 15 is started and the nip rollers M draw theelectrode wire [9 from the reel i2 and feed it past the contact 20 and through the nozzle it. When the end of the moving wire it approaches the Work 23, an arc is struck, the arc and moving electrode wire and-weld puddle being shielded by theannular stream of gas from the nozzle E6.

The motor is now started, and the nip rollers 34 draw the-filler rod 38 from the reel 32 and fed through the-guide 33 intothe arc stream between the end of the wire ill and the work 22.

The rate otmetal deposition can be at least approximately doubled 'for a given electrical power input. The increase in rate of metal deposition varies somewhat with theparticular metal of the electrode, filler'metal and base metal, and the diameters of the electrode wire and the filler rod, and the thickness of the base metal. On this basis, the efiiciency-or the use of the power input is about doubled. For example, in depositing a 1?; inch diameter copper-silicon-manganese alloy wire electrode fed at a rate of 115 inches per minute on cast iron with 325 amperes direct current reverse polarity and 30 volts with an argon flow of cubic feet per hour, the rate of metal deposition was 14.6 pounds per hour. When a filler rod of copper-silicon-manganese alloy of inch diameter was 'fedinto' the are at a speed of 276 inches per-.minute an additional 15.5 pounds per "hour'were deposited. When the filler rod was fed at a rate of 225 inches per minute into the are under the sameconditions the additional deposition rate was 13 pounds per hour. In other words. the: rate of metaldeposition was approximately doubled by feeding the external welding rod into the arc.

Another example iii-depositing 2; inch diameter aluminum alloy wire fed at a rate of 276 inches per minute on aluminum with 425 amperes, 27 volts direct current reverse polarity and an argon flow of cubic feet per hour, the rate of deposition was 8.25 pounds per hour. When filler rod of 5% inch diameter aluminum alloy was fed at 240 inches per minute into the are under the same conditions an additional 9.5 pounds per hour was deposited.

The increase in the rate of metal deposition thus attained is accomplished without any increase in the inert gas flow through the gas nozzle shielding the wire electrode which has the arc established between its end and the base metal or workpiece.

The penetration of the arc into the base metal can be reduced any desired amount by the rate at which the filler rod is fed into the arc stream. For example, by feeding inch diameter coppersilicon-manganese alloy filler rod at a high rate the penetration into cast iron was reduced from a range of A3 inch to inch to a range of a few thousandths to 3 2 inch. 7 The more accurate control of the penetration into the base metal is of particular advantage in reducing the penetration to a very slight amount for specific operations, such as cladding or surfacing with welding rods having compositions different from the base metal.

A desirable speed range of filler rod feed is from 50 to 1000 inches per minute. For example, some metals are better fed by means of small diameter filler rods at high speed, whereas other metals can be fed by larger filler rods at low speed.

The diameters of filler rods that have been used are rt, 3% and inch. Any size from to inch in diameter can be fed. The maximum size of filler rod that can be fed externally into the arc stream will depend upon the type of metal itself. For example, a larger bronze rod could be fed without disturbing the arc than an aluminum rod.

Tests have indicated that it is advisable to feed the external filler rod into the arc stream at the front end of the weld puddle so that the end of the rod contacts the base metal or is not more than inch above the base metal.

The argon metal are with filler rod feed process has been applied to the deposition of aluminum on aluminum and bronze on cast iron. This method is applicable to practically all metals and combinations of metals that are commonly welded. The angle of incidence of the filler rod to the workpiece can vary from about to 60 or more.

I claim:

1. Method of gas shielded metal arc welding with a motor driven moving wire electrode being unwound from a reel and connected to a source of welding current, which comprises striking an are between. the end of said wire electrode and a workpiece connected to said source to consume said electrode and transfer metal therefrom through the arc stream to form on said workpiece a weld puddle, passing a stream containing essen tially inert gas along said moving electrode to shield the arc stream and weld puddle, feeding said electrode wire from its reel toward the are at a speed of the order of 100 inches per minute, supplying welding current from said source to the electrode and workpiece at a strength sufiicient to consume the wire electrode at said rate, and feeding unenergized additional metal wire from a separate reel into said gas shielded weld puddle at a rate of from 50 to 1000 inches per minute to increase the metal deposition rate of the resultant welding operation above that of the arc stream without substantially increasing the strength of said welding current supplied to said electrode wire.

2. Method of gas shielded metal arc welding with a motor driven moving cuprous metal wire electrode being unwound from a reel and connected to a source of Welding current, which comprises striking an arc between the end of said cuprous metal wire and a metal workpiece connected to said source to consume said cuprous metal electrode and transfer cuprous metal therefrom through the arc stream to form on said metal workpiece a weld puddle, passing a stream containing essentially inert gas along said moving cuprous metal wire electrode to shield the arc stream and weld puddle, feeding said cuprous metal electrode from its reel toward the are at a speed of the order of inches per minute, supplying welding current from said source to said moving cuprous metal wire electrode and said metal workpiece at a strength suflicient to consume said cuprous metal wire electrode at said rate, and feeding unenergized additional cuprous metal wire from a separate reel into said gas shielded weld puddle at a rate of from 50 to 1000 inches per minute to increase the metal deposition rate of the resulting welding operation above that of the arc stream without substantially increasing the strength of said welding current supplied to said electrode wire.

3. Method of gas shielded metal arc welding with a motor driven moving aluminum wire electrode being unwound from a reel and connected to a source of welding current, which comprises striking an are between the end of said aluminum wire and an aluminum workpiece connected to said source to consume said aluminum electrode and transfer aluminum metal therefrom through the arc stream to form on said aluminum workpiece a weld puddle, passing a stream containing essentially inert gas along said moving aluminum wire electrode to shield the arc stream and weld puddle, feeding said aluminum electrode from its reel toward the arc at a speed of the order of 100 inches per minute, supplying Welding current from said source to said moving aluminum wire electrode and said aluminum workpiece at a strength suflicient to consume said aluminum Wire electrode at said rate,

and feeding unenergized additional aluminum wire from another reel into said gas shielded weld puddle at a rate of from 50 to 1000 inches per minute to increase the metal deposition rate of the resulting welding operation above that of the arc stream without substantially increasing the strength of said welding current supplied to said electrode wire.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Engineering News-Record, vol. 132, No. 16, pp. 87-39, April 20, 1944. (Copy in Division 37.)

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